Honeymoon + Happy Tiki Gods = Leicas for me

Hi all--
I just got back from my honeymoon in Hawaii. I swear, the Tiki Gods must have liked me for some reason. I went to lunch and a little hole in the wall place in Honolulu and on the way out noticed a pawn shop next door. It was super tiny, but had a little case of lenses. Nothing good in there. The guy running the place asked what I was looking for and I mentioned Hasselblad, to which he replied that he had given away a Hasselblad recently because nobody wanted film cameras there anymore. Then he mentioned he had some Leica stuff at another location. I was literally on my way to the airport, so I couldn't come back tomorrow or whatever. Then he went in back and brought out a leather case. Inside the case there were two screw mount Leicas with lenses and a few accessories--the case is lined in that great purple velvet stuff. Yum! So...long story short (too late!) I ended up getting TWO Leicas, the case, accessories...all for $500. I forgot to bring them with me to work today, but from what little research I was able to do in Hawaii I determined that one is a 1934 Leica III chrome with a collapsible 50mm f3.5 Elmar, and the second one is a 1951 IIIf red-dial with a collapsible 50mm f2.0 Summitar. I've never owned a Leica, just Canon/Minolta knock-offs. I have no idea if I paid a good price/bad price/fair price. It just seemed like a cool set to grab. Anyway, I am happy to have them and plan on shooting with them both very soon!

Wow! The Leica iiif is a dream to use and I would say it was a good price, well done.

Paul

The IIIf seems to have a VERY dim rangefinder. Other than that, they are both in really good shape/seem to work very well. Smooth focus, smooth shutter, clean curtains. The Leica III has a much brighter rangefinder. I rarely use flash anyway, so I may use that one more. It's so light and tiny but feels so well made! And from 1934. Wow.

Yeah it's crazy how small they are, I had to take mine apart just to see inside, I found the iiif a great useable camera. You surely will have fun with them.

Paul

I guess I can use all of my Voigtlander/Canon/Minolta lenses...I seem to have a lot of screw mount lenses!

Just a piece of relationship advice ....

When someone asks about your honeymoon, it is not a good idea to start talking first about the cameras you bought

Congratulations - on the marriage (and the cameras too).

Ah, good advice. Thanks! Well, I'm not gonna post wedding photos, but here are some miserable shots of the Leicas...

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Congratulations on both your wedding and your new Leicas. I have a very nice IIIa from 1935 with a 50mm 2.0 Summar lens. My IIIfRD dates from 1952. It has a 50/2.0 summitar. I agree that they are wonder, light cameras. I also have an M2. It is a terrific camera, I use it most of the time, but I manage to use the other two a fair amount. The III's are so light and tiny, especially when next to my D700. They will probably still be up and running long after the D700 has seen its last battery.

Congrats on the wedding and the birth of your new twins.

I learned on a IIIf RD ST that my father has. It without a doubt is the sweetest screw mount ever made IMHO. Consider letting Sherry K give the twins a CLA or at least the IIIf. She also gave new life to my Elmars too besides the great work she can do on bodies.
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Lee

Thanks for the link. I'll definitely be sending them out for a good CLA...might have to wait a bit though. The Leicas were a very unplanned expense!

Congratulations, what a wonderful set. (and on the marriage) Certainly a CLA is the way to go and Sherry is as good as they get. Practice a little with the film loading though as it's a little fiddly but with practice you'll build up confidence. They are wonderful camera's and lenses especially when you consider their age and the fact that they are perfectly capable of producing pretty good images (even the elmar) if the optics are clear. But Sherry will give reliable advise.

Thanks! I loaded a test roll a few times yesterday, I now know what I did wrong the first time around. After downloading a pdf of the manual, I now know the "trick" of it. The lenses seem to be in really good shape, the Elmar has a few more specks inside. If all goes well, I will run a roll for real today or tomorrow. Should be fun!

Yes, it is a bit fiddly, but like most things practice makes perfect. And yes the camera's are fun to use, quirky perhaps but sheer enjoyment.